START DELEGATING AND GET MORE DONE!
Letting go is hard to do… While learning to delegate is hard, the trick is to follow easy and effective strategies that won’t give you more stress.
Breath: It’s ok to let go.You may feel you need to complete the task yourself and no one else will be able to complete it effectively. Not necessarily. Start your to-do-list and start delegating from the bottom. You may find that people will surprise you. With a little instruction a lot can be accomplished. Get to know your staff a little better and improve collaboration among your team.
Learn your team’s strengths.Spend a few minutes with your team. Find out what each of their strengths and weaknesses are. Use that information to carefully delegate and assign tasks to whoever has the greatest skillset for that task. Be consistent. Delegate the same type of tasks to the same person. This will increase their aptitude for that task and your confidence that the job is being done well.
Be specific. Provide clear instructions.Make sure to include instructions to your team on how you want the task completed. Provide deadlines and clarify strict deadlines. Milestones are a good way to view the progress of a project or task. Verifying the tasks assigned is always a plus until you feel confident in the work.
Training: New skills.Most employees are looking for personal growth and new skills. If you have a task that your team doesn’t know how to execute, try training them. Spending the time to train or provide training to a team member will save you hours of work in the future. Investing in your staff is always a plan for success.
Feedback.Feedback is an important part of the delegation process. Working with your employee and providing constructive criticism when needed will help them improve on areas they fall short. Always praise a job well done. Your staff will appreciate when you let them and their peers that they have completed a job well. Ask your employee if they need more instruction or if you weren’t clear enough. Double check your delegation process. You may not always delegate to the right person but you can always change people around. It’s all a learning process.
During the “learning to delegate” process you will encounter small hipcups that will provide you the opportunity to learn more about your team and how to communicate with them. The sooner you start to delegate, the sooner you will find yourself experience more product timeslots in your day.